Decorating question 1: how are your bookshelves arranged?

I don't have any bookshelves, but I would love to install built-ins for books and chotskies.

You can't really tell from this angle, but I do have knick-knacks between the stacks of books.   This is an old library shelf dh got out of a dumpster!  I didn't really "arrange" the books, just kind of stuck them where they would fit. I do have cook books together, travel books together, etc. but that's about all the thought I put into it.  what the heck is up with my carpet? it doesn't really look like that!! lol

Most are books only though I use a couple of individual shelves for DVDs. Books all standing upright. Other items on top of a couple of low bookshelves. I organise my books by topics eg biographies, history, crime novels etc.

Mine are lightly stylized and dh's (in his den) are not.

I don't have traditional bookshelves, I never could find any that I like. For example, I have an old pie safe that I removed the curtain things that someone used to cover the inside so it is completely open except for the structural pieces of the doors. There are books, photos and whatnots scattered inside w/the books horizontal and vertical, stuff in front of books, on top of books...

Another example is an old barrister case, with the books stacked, stood up and pieces and parts of my life interspersed on top of or next to stacks.

 

It depends where they are. The living room and master bedroom built-ins are styled, books grouped by color and objects in between.

Playroom/ loft books are sorted by type, but shelves are deep and cute things sit in front. So I guess they're somewhat styled.
All others are straight in the shelves, more utilitarian sorted by type, unless they also hold bins.

Style gives way to need for storage around here, more often than in my dream design.

We have some built-ins in our family room. They are filled with books, but I have a few framed photos and tchotchkes sharing space with the books.

ETA:  I do not organize the books alphabetically.  They're in there randomly unless they're part of a series---I do put those in order.  

My shelves contain mostly books.  I have a few decorative items on the shelves, but I don't like the look of a lot of little knickknacks on the shelves. 
My nonfiction is arranged by subject (travel, how-to, etc.).  My fiction is arranged by author.  I have hundreds of books and that way I can easily find the book I am looking for.

Mine are books and knickknacks. More books with a few knickknacks thrown in.

According to my mother, my book "piles" are a early signs of the impending apocalypse of a hoarder in the making.

God love her, she just doesn't understand the revisiting of old friends (books.)

My book shelves in the formal living room look like the first picture that RoundTwo posted, except that there are more books on my shelves. It's visible from the front door and I wanted it to look like I had planned it. They are just Billy shelves from IKEA, but we got the extended shelves and the unit fills a wall.

The other book shelves in the house are packed. No chatchkes, just books. Mostly arranged by subject and series, but I can't guarantee that in the kids's rooms.

This sounds really nice.  Clever idea on the pie safe; and, I've always loved the look of old barrister cases.

Only books here. We have so many bookshelves as it is, and they are all full of books (sorted by broad section - fiction, non-fiction, travel, reference, children's, etc., and then alphabetical by author's last name within each section). If we styled them, we'd need way more bookshelves than we have room for. Besides, I think books are pretty beautiful the way they are. 

My bookshelf stays hidden in my basement. My son would make a mess of them. When they were out in the open, it was for books and organized by category. If there were some blank spots, I'd maybe be a photo frame or some little object to take up space.